For many of you, the end of the fiscal year is approaching. Ultimately, you’ve got big dollar goals to meet. And as we love to shout from the rooftops of EverTrue:
More activity leads to more meetings which lead to more dollars. Full stop.
Between now and the end of the fiscal year, one thing you have total control over is how much activity you’re generating. So, lean into the lingering deadline. This is the perfect time for you to have at least one touchpoint with every single prospect in your portfolio.
Really? I’m supposed to talk to every single person in my portfolio?
We looked at portfolios across our EverTrue database and found that on average, gift officers log interactions with less than half of the assigned prospects in their portfolio every year.
That news makes us upset. Across the board, less than 3% of alumni are assigned to a gift officer portfolio. So, shouldn’t all those prospects who “make the portfolio cut” hear from their assigned 1-1 liaison at least once each year?
Yes. And here’s how to do it – sustainably.
We took ideas from the most productive gift officers in the game and summed up these easy, creative, and effective ways to deepen relationships with every prospect in your portfolio: the super-engaged ones, the hard-to-reach ones, the inherited ones, and the slow-burning ones.
Each tip has simple steps for how to connect with all the folks in your portfolio by year-end with the help of EverTrue. And if you don’t have EverTrue, the tips are a bit more manual, but we suggested work-arounds.
Put simply, reaching 100% of the prospects in your portfolio is just the right thing to do – and you’ve got a deadline to use as motivation.
If your donors don’t hear from their assigned gift officer, they’re probably not hearing from their alma mater at all. So yes, it matters. Here’s why.
Broad market marketing isn’t what inspires people into action anymore. Providing personalized content at scale is a skill that we all need to sharpen, no matter what we do in the future. Learn more.
Here are a few ways to consistently talk to your prospects about things they care about through cadence outreach fueled by digital engagement insights. Check it out.
With a big portfolio and big number goals, time is of the essence. There are two easy ways to make the most of each week: Lean into noteworthy occasions, and rely more on your teammates. Here’s how.
The best way to build trust with donors is to bring value to them in every interaction. A few simple ways to do that? Build their personal and professional networks. And connect the dots of their historic relationship with your institution.
We’re not too big to admit that, in love and in fundraising, there comes a time when we must move on and make room for something new. We wrote a prospect breakup letter for you. It’ll get responses.
Building 1-1 relationships with donors is imperative for major gift pipeline. For donor experience. For the future of your institution. And for the bottom line.
And, because most prospects in major gift portfolio are purposefully removed from your institution’s mass appeals, news, and invitations, if you (their assigned gift officer) aren’t reaching out, that means no one is.
You are your assigned prospects’ main conduit to your institution. So it’s should be a non-negotiable for you to reach everyone in your portfolio.
The whole EverCrew is rooting for you as you wrap up the fiscal year! Good luck!
Wanna learn more about EverTrue? Book a demo to see it in action.